1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of biometric authentication, and more particularly relates to validating both a biometric identifier and an associated code.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security is increasingly important in today's world. One result of this has been an increase in the use of biometric scanning as a way to authenticate people trying to access secure locations or trying to access secure information. For example, many computers have built-in fingerprint readers to authenticate users. Certain buildings use facial recognition readers, palm readers, retinal readers, or others to ensure that only authorized personnel can access secure locations.
While biometric authentication offers a number of advantages, it is only a single layer of security. If a hacker gets a fingerprint, for example, of an authorized user, the hacker may be able to gain access to the secured information. For example, if oil or residue leaves a fingerprint on the fingerprint reader, a hacker might place a piece of white paper over the fingerprint reader. In certain systems, this spoofs the system into reading the fingerprint residue and allows the hacker access.